New MacBook Pro and Mac Pro combine serious power with a style that is typically Apple

The ports on the Mac Pro are illuminated when you need to plug something in

Apple’s iMac was the first to combine great looks with strong performance, and its modern successors are implausibly thin works of aluminium art. No wonder it's found in settings from the finest homes to the most highly polished retailers.

But the truth is desktop computers are less necessary than ever. The power of tablets and laptops is already freeing up the space once occupied by computers and keyboards and mice. With the latest MacBook Pro, Apple combines more power than almost anybody needs with the gorgeous styling that is now familiar.

What’s new, however, is an even slimmer package, an even better processor and – most importantly – an even better battery life. In my initial tests, Apple’s estimates of the nine hours on offer from the 13” model was conservative, rather than the normal implausible optimism offered by other companies. If you want to watch films on the retina display screen while also editing video or using Photoshop, the MacBook Pro is all the computer you need. However, for the typical user, a MacBook Air is lighter and has more than enough power for web browsing, emailing and film watching.

But what about those looking to replace the iMac with something that is conspicuous, even more powerful and even more surprising to look at? The new Mac Pro is, yet again, an attempt to reinvent how computers look. Rather than the beige towers that once contained even Apple’s computers, this is a shining cylinder, combining clever touches – the ports are illuminated when you need to plug something in – with extraordinary power. At Apple’s launch event, they showed one model casually showing 16 different ultra-high definition films.

The Mac Pro is aimed unashamedly at the professionals who need to edit films or audio and for whom there has never yet been enough power – but like the MacBook Pro laptop it is also the computer for users who want to make a style statement that could come from no other company.